Canyon falls to Grapevine in five sets
GARLAND — New Braunfels Canyon coach Heather Sanders wanted her team to feel the joy of getting to play for a state championship.
That looked favorable after two sets in the Cougarettes’ UIL Class 5A state semifinal against Grapevine on Friday afternoon at Culwell Center.
However, the Mustangs snagged momentum by finishing the fourth set with a 12-2 run en route to a 18-25, 20-25, 25-20, 2518, 15-10 victory.
“This group of seniors, the majority of them, have been coming to Canyon volleyball camps since they were little bitty girls,” Sanders said. “I think of each and every one of the as my own, and I wanted nothing more than for them to get the first one here and I’m really sad we couldn’t get it done for them.”
Grapevine (22-17), which entered the postseason with a losing record (16-17), advances to the state title game against two-time reigning state champion Lucas Lovejoy (41-6) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Lovejoy eliminated Grapevine in the state semifinals last year.
Canyon (43-9) finished with a program record for season wins. Sanders also reached her 700th career victory toward the end of the regular season.
The Cougarettes were making their 12th state tournament appearance and their fifth in Sanders’ 23 years at Canyon. They hoped to add a state crown in their trophy case to accompany the one they captured in 1983.
“We’re excited about our playoff run,” Sanders said. “These girls accomplished a lot. They were the first team to get over 40 wins and to have some of those in the playoffs was pretty spectacular. Obviously, we wish were coming back to play (Saturday) more than anything.”
The Cougarettes won the first two sets, thanks to some strong play at net and great defensive effort all around. Canyon tallied eight of its 10 blocks in the first two sets. Canyon’s sophomore middle blocker Courtney Pope finished with six blocks.
Canyon had five in double fig
ures in digs as part of a 100 total for the team. Senior libero Victoria Fontenot led with 25.
Canyon’s senior outside hitter and Incarnate Word signee Kyla Malone tallied 23 kills, while sophomore setter had 52 assists. Most of those occurred in the first two sets.
“They just started picking up our tendencies,” Malone said. “We came in with a game plan, and they started to pick up on that and made their adjustments. We couldn’t adjust fast enough to the things they were doing on their side.”
Grapevine never trailed after the early stages in securing the third set.
Canyon led 16-13 in the fourth set before the Mustangs reeled off 11 of the next 12 to get to set point. Missouri signee Janet demarrais recorded four of her match-high 29 kills in that run.
“This is a game of momentum, and when they started feeling it and getting in that groove, sometimes it’s hard to break,” Sanders said.
The match was 6-6 in the fifth before the Mustangs took control with a 5-0 run that created enough cushion to finish it out.
“It’s definitely tough to have to regroup, but we really tried our best to come in as a team and focus on our huddle and on our side,” senior defensive specialist Alyssa Koehl said. “And I feel like for the most part, we did a pretty good job of lifting each other up.”
Alea Lastinger added 17 kills for Grapevine. Setters Ella Davis had 25 assists, and Mikayla Ethridge had 23.
“This is a super-resilient group of kids,” Grapevine coach Robyn Wallace said. “Nothing fazes them. They get excited when they go to a fifth set regardless of what happened previously. They just play the next point and forget about whatever happen before. They are pretty salty.”
Although the Cougarettes didn’t get a chance to play for the title, Koehl said she enjoyed being a part of the program.
“There have been so many great memories, and I couldn’t be more grateful to end my high school career with this team,” Koehl said. “It’s just been a blast. I’m going to remember these girls. They brought me out of my shell throughout high school and have been just some of my best friends.”